Custom Home Building · Woodland Hills
Custom Home Building in Woodland Hills, CA
Ground-up homes planned around the real constraints of a Woodland Hills lot: floor area limits, hillside grading rules, fire zone construction and west Valley heat.
- Licensed California general contractor
- Permits with LADBS
- Written, line-item estimates
- Design, engineering & construction
Woodland Hills, CA
Custom Home Building for Woodland Hills Homeowners
Custom home building in Woodland Hills usually begins with a house that no longer fits, such as a 1950s Ranch with low ceilings and tired systems, or a hillside home whose structure is not worth saving. We manage the whole path from survey and design coordination through LADBS plan check, construction and final inspection, with one contract and one point of responsibility.
Before anyone commits to a design, we confirm how much house the lot actually allows. In Woodland Hills that answer changes block by block, depending on whether the parcel falls under the city's flat-lot or hillside rules, whether it sits in a fire zone, and what the soils report says.
Local Knowledge
What Shapes a New Home in Woodland Hills
North of Ventura Boulevard, most lots were subdivided for single-story Ranch houses in the 1950s and 1960s. A new home there is sized by the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, which caps residential floor area in relation to lot size. In Walnut Acres, where RA zoning survives from the orchard years, bigger parcels leave room for a larger footprint plus outbuildings, but the floor area math still governs.
South of Ventura, the land climbs into the Santa Monica Mountains and the Baseline Hillside Ordinance takes over. It scales allowable floor area by lot size, slope and street width, measures height from a defined grade point, and limits how much earth can be cut and filled. Most of those hillside parcels are also in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so the house must be built with ignition-resistant exterior materials, ember-resistant vents and a Class A roof.
Then there is the heat. The county's all-time high of 121 degrees was recorded here in 2020, so we treat orientation, roof overhangs and insulation as early design decisions rather than finishes chosen late.
What's Included
What Our Custom Home Service Covers
- Site review, survey coordination and a zoning check against the flat-lot or hillside floor area rules
- Coordination with your architect, structural engineer, soils engineer and Title 24 energy consultant
- LADBS plan check submittals, corrections and permit issuance, including grading permits on sloped lots
- Demolition of the existing house, utility disconnections and a clean, compacted building pad
- Foundation, framing, roofing and exterior work built to fire zone standards where the parcel requires them
- Solar PV as the California Energy Code requires, designed to the code version in effect for your application
For the full scope, process and options, see our main custom home building page, or browse everything we build on our Woodland Hills service area page.
Planning Considerations
Planning Decisions That Matter Most Here
Hillside geology and access
Sloped lots south of Ventura Boulevard usually need a geotechnical report before the foundation design is final, and its findings can call for caissons, grade beams or retaining walls. Access matters too. Narrow, winding streets limit the size of trucks, pumps and cranes, which affects how concrete is poured and where framing lumber is staged. We visit the site with the engineer and plan logistics before pricing, so those costs show up on paper early.
Fire zone construction
A new home in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone is built to the wildland-urban interface chapter of the California Building Code. That touches nearly every exterior choice: roofing, siding, decking, eaves, vents and window glazing. It also affects landscaping, because the Los Angeles Fire Department inspects brush clearance in these zones. We set the exterior palette around these rules at the first design meeting, so the house looks intentional rather than retrofitted.
Designing for west Valley summers
Heat drives more of the budget in Woodland Hills than most owners expect. Large west-facing glass walls look good in renderings and cost a great deal to cool. We work with the energy consultant on glazing specifications, overhang depth, roof insulation and mechanical zoning, and we size the solar array against a realistic summer load rather than the bare code minimum.
Why Choose Us
Why Woodland Hills Homeowners Choose Simply Construction
Licensed, Bonded and Easy to Verify
Simply Construction inc. is a licensed California general contractor, CSLB [CSLB LICENSE # PLACEHOLDER]. State law requires a license for any job of $1,000 or more in labor and materials, and anyone can check a contractor's license, bond and workers' compensation status on the CSLB website in about a minute. We encourage every Woodland Hills homeowner to do exactly that before signing with anyone, including us.
One Team From Plans to Final Inspection
Design, engineering, permitting and construction sit under one contract and one project lead, so nobody points fingers between the designer, the engineer and the builder when a detail changes. You get one schedule, one point of contact and regular progress updates from the first site visit through the final inspection and sign-off on your Woodland Hills project.
Written, Line-Item Estimates
Before you commit, you receive a written estimate that breaks the project into its real parts: design and engineering, permit and utility fees, foundation, framing, systems, finishes and site work. Allowances are named and priced, so you can see where your selections move the budget. If the scope changes, the numbers change on paper first, never as a surprise on the final invoice.
More in Woodland Hills
Other Services in Woodland Hills
Nearby
Custom Home Building Near Woodland Hills
FAQ
Custom Home Building in Woodland Hills: Common Questions
How much house can I build on my Woodland Hills lot?
It depends on lot size, zoning and whether the parcel is mapped as hillside. Flat lots follow the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, while hillside lots follow the Baseline Hillside Ordinance, which reduces allowable floor area as slope increases. We run the numbers from your survey and the city's parcel records before design, so the architect starts from a real envelope.
Is it better to remodel or tear down a 1950s Ranch house?
If the foundation is sound and the layout mostly works, a whole-house remodel or an addition often costs less. A teardown makes sense when the structure, systems and floor plan all need replacing, or when the lot allows far more floor area than the house uses. We walk the house with you and an engineer and lay out both paths plainly.
Do new homes need solar panels?
Yes. California's energy code has required solar PV on most new single-family homes since January 1, 2020. The 2025 Energy Code applies to permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026, so a new home entering plan check now is designed to that version. Battery storage is worth discussing at the same stage.
Start Your Project
Planning a Custom Home in Woodland Hills?
Tell us about your property and goals. We will walk the site, flag anything LADBS will care about, and give you a written, line-item estimate.
Licensed California General Contractor · CSLB [CSLB LICENSE # PLACEHOLDER]